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You are here: Home / Books / Long Island Iced Tina (A Catering Hall Mystery) by Maria DiRico | Guest Post

March 5, 2021 · 4 Comments

Long Island Iced Tina (A Catering Hall Mystery) by Maria DiRico | Guest Post

Books· Cozy Mystery

Thanks for sharing!

Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Long Island Iced Tina (A Catering Hall Mystery) by Maria DiRico.  Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more! 

Mia Carina is back in the borough of Queens—in charge of the family catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor, and keeping her nonna company. But some events—like murder—are not the kind you can schedule . . .

Long Island Iced Tina (A Catering Hall Mystery)

by Maria DiRico

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive compensation at no cost to you.

Long Island Iced Tina (A Catering Hall Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Publisher: Kensington (February 23, 2021)
Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages

Mia’s newly pregnant friend Nicole plans to hold a shower at Belle View—but Nicole also has to attend one that her competitive (and mysteriously rich) stepmother, Tina, is throwing at the fanciest place in Queens. It’s a good chance for Mia to snoop on a competitor, especially since doing a search for “how to run a catering hall” can get you only so far.

Mia tags along at the lavish party, but the ambiance suffers at Nicole’s Belle View shower when a fight breaks out—and then, oddly, a long-missing and valuable stolen painting is unwrapped by the mom-to-be. Tina is clearly shocked to see it. But not as shocked as Mia is when, soon afterward, she spots the lifeless body of a party guest floating in the marina . . .

Italian recipes included!

Guest Post: I WASN’T DREAMING, I SWEAR

Years ago, sometime in the mid-1980s, I was visiting my nonna (that’s Italian for grandmother) with my mother. We were in Nonna’s living room and after exchanging a flood of Italian with each other, my mother told me that Nonna had said the late husband of a widowed friend of hers had appeared to the friend in a dream to tell her he’d been buried without shoes. So they sent a pair of shoes “up to him” in the casket of another Pisano (that’s Italian for countryman) who passed away. I’ve never forgotten this odd, kind of endearing story. Writer that I am, I filed it away for future use. That future use manifested itself as the subplot for Long Island Iced Tina, my new Catering Hall Mystery. I proudly shared this with my mother. Her reaction?

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

That’s right. My mother has zero memory of telling me this tale, whereas I can vividly remember the moment, almost down to what she was wearing at the time. Which leads us to the question… who’s right? Did my mother forget telling me the story? Did I dream it? Sadly, Nonna is no longer with us, so she can’t solve the mystery.

I love this quirky anecdote beyond reason and refuse to believe I dreamt it. For one thing, I don’t think I’m that creative. For another, when I recall it, I see myself in such a specific and real location, it’s impossible for me to entertain any alternate theory. It’s not like I remember other weird details. I don’t see the man floating or flying above a strange woman, his widow, when I recall it. There are no dreamlike hallucinations. It’s all very straightforward. Nonna tells my mother the story in Italian; Mom repeats it to me in English.

There’s another reason I want the story to be real. It’s so much better if it is. Real, it’s both sadly and hilariously bizarre. As a dream, it’s, well… a dream. And much less interesting.

Bottom line, I had a wonderful time writing the subplot for Elisabetta, the nonna of my series’ protagonist, Mia. I hope you enjoy reading it. And remember…

It. Really. Happened!

Thanks for sharing this not-dream! That is so wild…either way! 

About Maria DiRico

Maria DiRico is the pseudonym for Ellen Byron, author of the award winning, USA Today bestselling Cajun Country Mysteries. Born in Queens, New York, she is first-generation Italian-American on her mother’s side and the granddaughter of a low-level Jewish mobster on her father’s side. She grew up visiting the Astoria Manor and Grand Bay Marina catering halls, which were run by her Italian mother’s family in Queens and have become the inspiration for her Catering Hall Mystery Series.

DiRico has been a writer-producer for hit television series like Wings and Just Shoot Me, and her first play, Graceland, appears in the Best Short Plays collection. She’s a freelance journalist, with over 200 articles published in national magazines, and previously worked as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing. A native New Yorker who attended Tulane University, Ellen lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and two rescue dogs.

Website – https://www.ellenbyron.com/catering-hall-mysteries

Chicks on the Case – http://chicksonthecase.net/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/CateringHallMysteries/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/ellenbyronla

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Google Play – IndieBound

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Long Island Iced Tina Tour Participants

March 1

Baroness Book Trove – REVIEW

FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

Novel Alive – SPOTLIGHT

March 2

Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

Brianne’s Book Reviews – REVIEW

March 3

My Reading Journeys – REVIEW, EXCERPT

This Is My Truth Now – REVIEW, RECIPE

Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

March 4

I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT

ebook addicts – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE

March 5

Christy’s Cozy Corners – GUEST POST

Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

Cassidy’s Bookshelves – SPOTLIGHT

March 6

Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE

Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT

March 7

Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW

StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE

I Read What You Write – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

March 8

Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW

Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST

March 9

Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT

Novels Alive – REVIEW

Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

March 10

Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW

Author Elena Taylor’s Blog – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT

Have you signed up to be a Tour Host?

Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today!

Thanks for sharing!
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Comments

  1. Ellen Byron and Maria DiRico says

    March 5, 2021 at 3:08 pm

    Thanks for letting me share this story!

    Reply
    • Christy Maurer says

      March 6, 2021 at 12:53 pm

      You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping!

      Reply
  2. Kim says

    March 5, 2021 at 7:28 pm

    I enjoyed the guest post. I love the colors of the book cover.

    Reply
  3. Leela says

    March 5, 2021 at 8:41 pm

    It looks like a good read.

    Reply

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